Middle East Policy

3.25.2009

Change and Democracy in the Middle East:Middle Eastern Researcher Defends the New Middle East

Aleppo ― March 25, 2009 ― In one basic center of the old Middle East, Nassim Yaziji the Syrian researcher specialized in international relations and the Middle East defends and advocates, through a new book, the new Middle East with an empirical, realistic and modern perspective, originated in and from the Middle East itself. His research on the Middle East and international Middle East policies has contributed to producing a significant and unique book.

Mr. Yaziji's second book "In Defense of the New Middle East: A Neo-Internationalist Perspective" has been published, advocating the new Middle East as a domestic and international necessity through the due change and democracy, and explaining this change through the Middle East's key realities and political developments the book analyzes.

This 264-page book includes more than 100 articles classified into several themes include the Neo-Internationalism, the Middle East geopolitics, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, the Palestinian question, Syria, international affairs and finally a tribute to freedom, applying a unique and advanced methodology.

As reflecting the author's modern perspective on the contemporary international relations, the international order and the Middle East, this book produces a transparent and realistic insight into the post-Iraq Middle East, its key realities, geo-strategic changes and geopolitics in the current international context, and significantly contributes to reaching an advanced realistic Middle East approach and strategy.

Mr. Yaziji welcomes and appreciates all reviews and comments. He can be reached via email, or via e-contact form. His book can be found at:

Nassim Yaziji is a Syrian researcher specialized in international relations and the Middle East. His research interests include the international order and organization in the post-9/11 era, Middle East geopolitics, Middle East policy and Middle East democratization. Mr. Yaziji adopts scientific realism. He adopts a perspective rests on the principles of Neo-Internationalism as defined by Yaziji himself. He advocates the acknowledgement of the human liberty at the international organization level, and advocates the promotion of freedom and democracy worldwide, especially in the Middle East. He fights totalitarianism and authoritarianism in all their religious and secular forms, and considers them as aggression against humanity.

2.01.2009

"Change" in America: Regression in the Middle East

As we, in the Middle East, are affected by the outcome of the American elections due to the next administration's prospective Middle East policy, I looked into both candidates and their Middle East programs and stances.

I directed my attention to "change" rhetoric by the democratic candidate. At the strategic level, I did not find any significance of this promised change, rather it is just about changing republicans from the White House and keep things as they are or as they were before the republicans. In other words, going backward not forward as usually expected from democrats and their persistent inaction.

If so, this fallacious change means disaster for the Middle East. It actually means going back to the post-Cold War Middle East, which means keeping totalitarian and authoritarian regimes enjoying a stable situation of authoritarianism and non-democracy in the Middle East, while the region's peoples or most of them are suffering from repression, poverty and absent rights and freedoms.

This situation will definitely lead to a disastrous and seriously dangerous region to the whole world. It will result in a region constitutes a storehouse of violence and terror with a sustainable source of terrorists.

It is really strange and sorrowful how Democrats showed that they did not understand anything from 9/11 and the whole wave of terrorism in the world since then. This is quite obvious to me when I find nothing in their Middle East agenda but going backward with the region to the pre-9/11 era, especially with their initiatives toward totalitarian rough regimes and entities like Ahmadynajad regime and Baath regime while the democratic candidate is looking forward to sit with them. By the way, those are dying to see Democrats in the White House in the upcoming elections.

So, while we, the Middle East democrats and liberals, are seeking and championing change in our region, the U.S. Democrats are seeking and advocating regression in this region. This would be a very painful and disastrous mistake.

Finally, a so-called "change" in the United States inflicting regression in such a vital region is not a change; it is a fallacy.

Let us go for change in the Middle East not regression that no one can take anymore.

1.27.2009

Iraq's Vibrant Democracy

First of all, I understand that Iraq is at the beginning of the democracy path, as defined by the norms and practices of western democracy. Actually, the title of this article came from what I saw of the Iraqi political, legal and civil scene in terms of the pending U.S.-Iraqi pact at the Iraqi constitutional institutions.

This scene in Iraq was really touching in terms of its vibrancy, and most importantly, its diversity. This Iraqi scene is unique in the Arab world, with an exception for Lebanon as a special case. It is really a very rare situation in the Arab world that no one can predict if a treaty or a political or sovereign decision would be adopted or not by an Arab country. In fact, in Arab countries, every thing is previously settled according to the ruling regime or dictator's will. However, this time, Iraq has made an exception or, as I hope, a precedent.

Furthermore, this Arab unique democratic state in Iraq continued even after the Iraqi government's approval of the pact with the United States after the U.S. approval of the changes of the pact proposed by the Iraqi government. Then, the uniqueness of this Iraqi situation in the Arab world is getting more significant as the government of Iraq cannot conclude this question waiting for the decisive act by the elected representatives of the Iraqi people in the Iraqi parliament.

Although Iraq has yet to develop its democratic system and experience, it has shown that it has the basic foundation of democracy, which is diversity. This Iraqi diversity was more than obvious in the Iraqi parliament. Many opinions have been shown by the Iraqi MPs divided between who is in favor of the treaty, and against, and who want some amendments to vote for it in a real democratic scene. However, some demagogic non-democratic MPs ― I mean violent Sadrists representing Iran's interests ― should not be upsetting, as they are just few, and growing democracy is capable of isolating non-democratic elements over time.

Finally, President Bush should be proud of this Iraqi scene that in spite of all challenges, difficulties and mistakes in Iraq, he fulfilled the basic promise of the Operation Iraqi Freedom; and now it is up to Iraqis to independently determine their future.

Fabricating Terror and Targeting Lebanon

Seemingly, Baath regime starts to take advantage of the new phase with the new elected democratic president in the United States.

As expected by everybody knows the last Baath located in Syria, its security apparatus was a very bad director to a fiasco play or drama. Baath security geniuses claimed that they discovered the network responsible for the latest explosion in Damascus. Recently, the Baath TV broadcasted their confessions after a long and wide publicity and advertisement of these confessions.

As exactly expected, they indirectly accused Lebanon after a previous and very early political statement claiming north Lebanon a terror base threatening Syria. But the funniest thing about the extremely bad and funny direction of this drama was choosing Fatah-al Islam as responsible for Damascus attack while the entire world and every concerned intelligence department in the world clearly knows who invented and supported this group and for what reason.

Apart from this futile and worthless Baath drama and publicity, there are some key questions about the criminal investigation and the crime scene Baath had better answer them. Fist of all, where did the exploded car disappear minutes after it had been exploded, and who took it and why? By the way, there is no court in the world would take this investigation in this case. How was the road where the explosion took place repaired and opened to the public minutes after the explosion, and who authorized that? Then, what is Baath geniuses' conception of 'crime scene'? In these circumstances, how and where was the investigation done?

The most important question is how this big network gathered, worked, planned, smuggled hundreds of kilograms of explosives to Syria, and get to Syria in the first place without notice of 17 security apparatuses have more than 238 branches (17x 14 provinces) and tens of thousand agents while, for example, every single bit passes Syria is monitored and registered via internet proxies, not to mention telephone calls.

The final key question is why Baath regime did not comment on the reports claiming that a security officer is a key suspect in Hariri killing was killed in Damascus explosion. Let them keep the answer to the international tribunal.

Baath group in Syria is stupidly continuing its scheme directed at Lebanon and its independence, sovereignty and democracy after the results of the U.S. elections as their Democrats friends have won.

Finally, I urge Baath group to send those tapes (confession tapes) to America's Funniest Home Videos program (AFV) with the annotation of winning Democrats there, and I am sure it would win the prize.

1.18.2009

Syria: A Country without Politics

Every governing system in any country is attached to a state of politics. The politics here is an entire system-like state with integrated parts and components. The entire state of politics affects the governing system and gets affected by it. Then, there is a dialectical relation between them in addition to an essential integration.

In any given country, there should be a state of politics as there is a governing system whatever is it. This is also true with non-democratic governing systems, which produce a shape of politics compatible with it with special specifications and narrowed scope and structure in comparison with the wide and vigor politics in the democratic governing systems. Then, every governing system has its associated shape of politics whatever this system is.

There is a really unique case concerning Syria that is no politics there! There is a governing system imitated from the Soviet school run by a persistent Baathist regime inherited from more than 40 years ago. Nevertheless, there is no politics; actually, it is banned and inflicts the potential activist very bad and serious consequences. In addition, even the politics within the governing system is not found, and the politics inside the regime is also hidden and ignored.

In Syria, you find everything set, but no one knows how, why or even who set it. Everything is surprising and does not have pre-existence leads and prerequisites. Decision-making is the big mystery; no one can know anything about it. So, even moving the public transport center in a Syrian city is a surprising sudden mystery, in which no citizen can have a say.

Therefore, it is difficult in Syria to feel as a citizen. The Syrian native lost his own identification before his country. Actually, with this mysterious unique governance, citizens became just a horde. This change, apparently, ended the relation of citizenship and its structure, which took with it the politics in this country.

With the losing of citizenship and the absence of politics, only political stagnation prevails. Hence, the stagnation becomes the only reality, and the significance gets entirely lost in complete absence.

About Me

I hold a license in Political Science from Lebanese University, and a certificate in Conflict Analysis from the U.S. Institute of Peace. I am a Syrian researcher in International Relations, my research interests are: international order in the post-9/11 era, U.S.-Middle East policy, the change in Iraq and Middle East geopolitics, international politics of democracy promotion and Middle East democratization.